Talladega Tornadoes Clinch 2024 Baseball Title in Dominating Fashion

No. 2 Talladega Tornadoes 25 def. No. 1 Wiley Wildcats 2 | BOX SCORE

The Talladega Tornadoes completed their triumphant return to the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference in its final year under that name, capturing the baseball championship with a decisive 25-2 win over the Wiley Wildcats. This marks the team's first GCAC baseball championship title since they were last in the conference in 2015.

It did not take long for Talladega to put runs on the board with its first two batters getting walks and a bunt setting up a sacrifice fly down left field and a two-run RBI single. Meanwhile, pitcher Daniel Jose was stout through two innings only allowing two batters on base recording three strikeouts. Conference Player of the Year Miguel Oropeza made his presence felt in the third with a home run down right field to give the Tornadoes a 4-0 lead.

One pitch into a change at the mound, Wiley surrendered another run on the board on a wild pitch later followed by two consecutive RBI singles. Trailing 10-0 entering the bottom of the third, Wiley finally got a spark in the bottom of the third notching three straight hits scoring its first run of the game on an RBI grounder. The Wildcats' backs remained against the ropes, however, as a throwing error and an RBI single extended the Tornadoes' lead to 12-1 through four.

The Tornadoes did not let their foot off the gas, scoring 13 runs over the next three innings to put this game completely out of reach to secure the conference title. Talladega's tournament run was a dominant one scoring 68 runs in four games outscoring their opponents by an average of over 13 runs per game. This included recording 53 total hits, scoring on 53 RBIs, and hitting seven home runs.

The Tornadoes' 25 runs scored ties the NAIA record for the most runs in a championship game. The win earns them an automatic berth to the NAIA's 67th Annual Baseball National Championship, which kicks off May 13-16 with Opening Round play on campus sites. The selection show will be held Thursday, May 9 at 4 p.m. CT on the NAIA YouTube Channel.